County the aim as Lees signs in at Trafalgar Road

SCOTT Lees believes playing for Southport and Birkdale can help him to achieve his ambitions with Lancashire.

The former Farnworth Social Circle all-rounder was a highly-rated skipper of the county’s Under-19 side last summer and he now aims to gain further recognition from Old Trafford, partly as a result of his performances for S&B next summer.

“I relished having the captaincy of the U-19s and loved running in thinking the responsibility was on me both as captain and as opening bowler,” he said when he visited Trafalgar Road last Saturday for the first winter get-together.

“For next year I can only look at Ormskirk cricketers like Simon Kerrigan, who began his Lancashire career at the same time as me and now has a professional contract, and Nicky Caunce, who was called into the second team and is now looking at getting a scholarship place.”

In addition to forcing his way into the second team at Old Trafford, Lees will be aiming to help S&B return to the ECB Premier League at the first attempt and he insists that the club’s relegation in September did not deter him from signing on.

“I’ve played here twice for Lancashire U19s and one of those games was during the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations, so I got to know a little about what the place was about.

“It has good people, a good ground and good facilities and I really enjoyed playing here.

“Chris Firth explained that the aim was to go back up at the first attempt, so relegation didn’t affect my decision in any way.”

And it looks as though Lees will not be the only new arrival at Trafalgar Road in the close season.

The club is currently in discussions with Chris Page, a 21-year-old left-handed bat and slow left-arm bowler who plays for the New Zealand club Northland, and officials hope the deal to bring the Kiwi over to England next year will be tied up by Christmas.

“Chris would fit in very well in terms of the balance of the side,” said S&B chairman Tony Elwood. “As yet we’re not absolutely sure whether he’s prepared to come over or not, but we’re hopeful he will.

“Ideally, we’d like four new players for next season,” added Elwood. “I’m on record as saying that I’d like to bring in one or two more experienced players and we’re trying hard to bring that about.”

Meanwhile, S&B’s preparations for the new season moved up a gear or two last week when the club took delivery of a new £8,000 Ransome Mastiff mower supplied by Burrows GM of Leyland. A £6,000 ECB grant was vital in ensuring that the purchase could go ahead.